By R.L. Bynum
Carolina slipped three spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll after the Tar Heels — without two starters — lost 62–55 at Louisville on Sunday. It’s their 11th week ranked in the top 15 this season, the most since 16 weeks in the 2014–15 season.
The Tar Heels (17–6, 8–4 ACC) won their eighth consecutive game with Thursday’s 73–62 home win over Virginia before the Cardinals ended the streak. Fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) missed both games, and junior wing Alyssa Ustby (lower-body injury) was out for the game against Louisville.
UNC tries to rebound this week against teams in the bottom half of the ACC standings. The Heels play at Syracuse (15–9, 6–7) at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN3) before returning home at noon Sunday (ACC Network) to face Boston College (14–12, 4–9).
In the NET rankings, Carolina fell from 19 to 22, but the Tar Heels have beaten five teams ahead of them in that ranking, with four losses.
Carolina was one of 11 teams in last week’s Top 25, including five ranked ahead of the Tar Heels, that lost at least one game.
Two were ACC teams: Notre Dame (18–4, 9–3), which fell from one spot to No. 10 after Sunday’s 57–52 home loss to Duke, and N.C. State (16–6, 6–5), which dropped seven spots to No. 22 after a 68–62 road loss to unranked Georgia Tech.
On the strength of that win over the Irish, Duke (20–3, 10–2) — which also beat Pittsburgh 53–44 — jumped seven spots to No. 9 after taking sole possession of first place in the ACC.
Virginia Tech (18–4, 8–4) moved from two spots to No. 11 after a 78–64 win over Syracuse. Florida State (20–5, 9–3) jumped four spots to No. 19 after a 72–44 rout against Wake Forest.
Teams ranked last week that lost twice were Iowa State (which sank nine spots to No. 21 after losing 78–77 to Kansas State and 76–70 to Baylor) and Middle Tennessee (which fell from No. 21 to unranked after falling 65–62 to UTEP and 58–53 to UTSA).
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 8 was Roger Cleaveland of the Waterbury Republican-American in Connecticut. Two others ranked the Tar Heels in the top 10: Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter, who had UNC No. 9 and Duke No. 13, and Kelly Gramlich of ACC Network, who had the Tar Heels No. 10 and the Blue Devils No. 8.
Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald ranked UNC the lowest at No. 20.
Carolina’s placement varied quite a bit for the other voters, with the Tar Heels showing up on ballots as No. 11 (1 time), No. 12 (5 times), No. 13 (6), No. 14 (1), No. 15 (1), No. 16 (1) No. 17 (4), No. 18 (4) and No. 19 (1).
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (23–0) | — | 700 (28 first-place votes) |
| 2 | Indiana (22–1) | +2 | 649 |
| 3 | LSU (23–0) | — | 643 |
| 4 | UConn (21–3) | +1 | 611 |
| 5 | Iowa (19–4) | +1 | 569 |
| 6 | Stanford (22–3) | -4 | 568 |
| 7 | Utah (20–2) | — | 543 |
| 8 | Maryland (19–5) | — | 509 |
| 9 | Duke (20–3) | +7 | 448 |
| 10 | Notre Dame (18–4) | -1 | 429 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech (18–4) | +2 | 394 |
| 12 | Michigan (19–5) | +6 | 359 |
| 13 | Ohio State (20–4) | -3 | 337 |
| 14 | North Carolina (17–6) | -3 | 328 |
| 15 | Villanova (20–4) | +4 | 245 |
| 16 | Oklahoma (18–4) | +4 | 241 |
| 17 | Arizona (18–5) | +5 | 233 |
| 18 | UCLA (18–6) | -4 | 201 |
| 19 | Florida State (20–5) | +4 | 187 |
| 20 | Texas (18–6) | +4 | 182 |
| 21 | Iowa State (15–6) | -9 | 168 |
| 22 | N.C. State (16–6) | -7 | 164 |
| 23 | Gonzaga (22–3) | -6 | 118 |
| 24 | South Florida (22–4) | +1 | 98 |
| 25 | Colorado (18–5) | — | 81 |
Others receiving votes: Baylor 29, Illinois 18, UNLV 14, Tennessee 13, USC 8, Middle Tennessee 8, Florida Gulf Coast 2, Louisville 2, Cleveland State 1.
UNC statistics
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 17 Duke | 12–0 | 17–6 | 13 |
| No. 6 Louisville | 11–1 | 21–4 | 7 |
| Syracuse | 9–3 | 19–4 | 36 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 16–7 | 26 |
| No. 25 North Carolina | 8–3 | 19–5 | 21 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–4 | 18–6 | 43 |
| Virginia | 8–4 | 16–7 | 38 |
| Clemson | 7–5 | 16–8 | 40 |
| Notre Dame | 7–5 | 15–8 | 30 |
| Stanford | 5–6 | 16–8 | 37 |
| California | 5–6 | 14–10 | 52 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–7 | 10–14 | 99 |
| Miami | 4–8 | 12–11 | 51 |
| Florida State | 2–9 | 7–16 | 111 |
| Wake Forest | 3–9 | 13–11 | 120 |
| SMU | 1–10 | 8–15 | 183 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–10 | 8–16 | 258 |
| Boston College | 0–12 | 4–21 | 252 |
* — Through Thursday games
Thursday’s results
No. 25 North Carolina 53, Clemson 44
Stanford 86, Boston College 65
No. 17 Duke 59, No. 6 Louisville 58
Notre Dame 80, Virginia Tech 70
Virginia 67, Miami 56
California 63, Georgia Tech 56
Wake Forest 70, SMU 65
N.C. State 83, Florida State 55
Sunday’s games
No. 6 Louisville at Syracuse, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
California at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. ACCN Extra
No. 25 North Carolina at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at No. 17 Duke, 2 p.m. The CW
Notre Dame at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Thursday, Feb. 12, games
SMU at No. 25 North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Syracuse at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at No. 6 Louisville, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
| Date | Month/day | Time/score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Location | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | |||||
| 9 | Wednesday | W, 91–59 | Jackson State | Home | 1–0 |
| 12 | Saturday | W, 75–48 | TCU | Home | 2–0 |
| 16 | Wednesday | W, 93–25 | South Carolina State | Home | 3–0 |
| 20 | Sunday | W, 76–65 | James Madison | Harrisonburg, Va. | 4–0 |
| Phil Knight Invitational | |||||
| 24 | Thursday | W, 85–79 | Oregon | Portland | 5–0 |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 73–64 | No. 17 Iowa State | Portland | 6–0 |
| December | ACC/Big Ten Challenge | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | L, 87–63 | No. 2 Indiana | Bloomington, Ind. | 6–1 |
| 7 | Wednesday | W, 64–42 | UNCW | Home | 7–1 |
| 11 | Sunday | W, 99–67 | Wofford | Home | 8–1 |
| 16 | Friday | W, 89–47 | USC Upstate | Home | 9–1 |
| Jumpman Invitational | |||||
| 20 | Tuesday | L, 76–68 | No. 18 Michigan | Charlotte | 9–2 |
| ACC season begins | |||||
| 29 | Thursday | L, 78–71 | Florida State | Home | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| January | |||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 68–65 | No. 4 Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, Va. | 9–4, 0–2 ACC |
| 5 | Thursday | L, 62–58 | Miami | Coral Gables, Fla. | 9–5, 0–3 ACC |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 60–50 | No. 10 Notre Dame | Home | 10–5, 1–3 ACC |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 70–59 | Virginia | Charlottesville, Va. | 11–5, 2–3 ACC |
| 15 | Sunday | W, 56–47 | N.C. State | Home | 12–5, 3–3 ACC |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 61–56 | No. 13 Duke | Home | 13–5, 4–3 ACC |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 70–57 | Georgia Tech | Home | 14–5, 5–3 ACC |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 72–57 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | 15–5, 6–3 ACC |
| 29 | Sunday | W, 69–58 | Clemson | Clemson | 16–5, 7–3 ACC |
| February | |||||
| 2 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | Virginia | Home | 17–5, 8–3 ACC |
| 5 | Sunday | L, 62–55 | Louisville | Louisville | 17–6, 8–4 ACC |
| 9 | Thursday | L, 75–67 | Syracuse | Syracuse | 17–7, 8–5 ACC |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 73–55 | Boston College | Home | 18–7, 9–5 ACC |
| 16 | Thursday | L, 77–66, OT | N.C. State | Raleigh | 18–8, 9–6 ACC |
| 19 | Sunday | W, 71–58 | Wake Forest | Home | 19–8, 10–6 ACC |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 61–59 | No. 4 Virginia Tech | Home | 19–9, 10–7 ACC |
| 26 | Sunday | W, 45–41 | No. 13 Duke | Durham | 20–9, 10–8 ACC |
| March | ACC Tournament | ||||
| 2 | Thursday | W, 68–58 | Clemson | Greensboro | 21–9 |
| 3 | Friday | L, 44–40 | No. 13 Duke | Greensboro | 21–10 |
| NCAA tournament | |||||
| 18 | Saturday | W, 61–59 | St. John’s | Columbus, Ohio | 22–10 |
| 20 | Monday | L, 71–69 | No. 12 Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | 22–11 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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